ALIYAH COMMITTEE
AMTON Newsletter
December 2001
THE DEATH OF AN ILLUSION
By Paula Feinstein Friedland
When thinking about the current situation in Israel,
it is difficult to express just how difficult this past
year has been. It is as if six million Israelis have
been unwillingly made part of a game of Russian roulette,
aware that the next shot could be fired at any moment,
yet never knowing whose life will be taken, whose family
devastated. For over a year now, every man, woman and
child has been living with the constant fear that someone
we love might not survive a mundane trip to the local
pizza parlor, the mall or a discotheque.
Equally terrible, however, has been the realization
that there is no longer any hope for peace in our time
in this tiny corner of the world. As a child of the
sixties, I had always believed in the goodness of mankind.
This past year has forced me to reexamine my feelings
and change my political views. I now know that the Arabs
who surround us, and perhaps many who live among us,
do not want peace with us, and that I, for one, was
naive to believe that they ever did. What the Arabs
want is Israel — all of it — from north to
south, from east to west. Not once in all the meetings,
summits and deliberations, not to mention the military
conferences, did the Palestinians present a map or give
a sense of what they would settle for, despite the fact
that they were offered virtually all of the West Bank
and Gaza and half our capital. Not once did Arafat or
any of his staff renounce war, renounce terror, clearly
stating in Arabic that they would end the fighting upon
receipt of that or any territory. Now I finally understand
why. The Arabs want all of Jerusalem, our holiest city,
all of Tel Aviv, our center of commerce and entertainment,
and all of Haifa, my home.
Looking back over the past year, I feel pain —
pain that my children have to live in such a threatening
world, pain that the Holocaust wasn't the end of all
evil, pain that the world can still question the validity
of the existence of the State of Israel.
Yet together with the horror and pain of this past
year, I have learned to appreciate more than ever the
wonderful spirit of the people around me. With all the
fear, the real imminent fear, of being blown to pieces,
I look with admiration upon the ability of my fellow
Israelis to dance at each other’s simchas, to go
to the theater and concerts, to travel abroad, to appreciate
good friends, good food and a sunny day at the beach.
This past year, a year which will go down in the annals
of history, has taught me just how fragile life is and
how I must live every day to its fullest. Most importantly,
it has reaffirmed my decision to live in Israel and
my belief that Israel must, first and foremost, remain
a Jewish state.
Paula Feinstein Friedland was born and raised in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. She made aliyah with her
husband Jonathan in July, 1971. Paula is the mother
of three children, ranging from 13 to 27 years of age.
She taught for many years in the Israeli school system
and at Haifa University and is the author of more than
a dozen English language textbooks that are used both
in Israel and throughout Europe. Paula presently works
as a fundraiser for the Leo Beck Center in Haifa. Lifelong
members of the Conservative (Masorti) Movement, Paula
and Jonathan are active members of Congregation Moriah
in Haifa.
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